Sykte
Apr 27, 07:29 PM
I have to say this thread has me captivated. First time ever..... code talk went from learning code to pooping in a pool within 3 pages.
Lord Blackadder
Aug 3, 11:20 AM
While that part is true that we would burn more fuel at power planets one advantage you are forgetting about is the power planets are by far much more efficient at producing power than the internal combustion engine on your car. On top of that it is much easier to capture and clean the pollution the power planet produces over what the cars produce. On top of that we can easily most our power over to other renewable choices.
I agree with you that series hybrids gain efficiency by running the internal combustion engine at a narrow RPM range representing the engine's most efficient speed. It's been done for over a hundred years that way in generators and a series hybrid drivetrain is set up exactly the same way as a generator.
Power plants are usually more efficent per unit of energy than autos, but right now they do not have the capacity to support a big switch to electrics. Also, the notion that power plants are cleaner than cars is debatable - many are, but many are not all that clean.
The critical point is, our power grid needs to become FAR more robust (more, bigger power plants) before we can make a large-scale switch to electrics - and it will only be worthwhile if the power grid becomes significantly more efficient. It can be done, but it will take a long, long time - and probably have to involve a significant new construction program of nuclear power plants.
I heard it that the reason why BMW stopped selling diesel cars in the US was that the engines failed, due to the very poor quality. In Europe, you can get quality fuel, but in the US, diesel is still the fuel of trucks, primarily.
Just one statistics: in continental Europe (not in the UK), new diesel cars have been outselling petrol ones for almost a decade, despite the premium.
The US began transitioning to ultra-low sulphur diesel in and by now the transition is nearly complete. The new fuel standard brings us in line with European diesel. Before the credit crunch recession hit, many car manufacturers were planning to bring Eurpoean-market diesel cars over here in slightly modified form, but those plans were scuppered in the recession. Subaru, for example, has delayed the introduction of their diesel by a year or two.
But I think diesels will start arriving here in the next couple years, and people will buy them in increasing numbers. The USA is 40 years behind in the adoption of diesel passenger cars.
You shouldn't have any impression about Subarus. They really have the traction of a train (AWD ones, of course - why would you buy anything else?!), but everything else is just midrange quality at best.
I've had a 1998 Impreza estate several years ago and it was OK. Recently, I've had a 2007 Legacy Outback from work. Nice glass on the top and good traction, but I have no intention of trading a BMW or Mercedes for it the next time. The interior is low quality and Subaru has no understanding of fuel efficiency, it seems. OK, it's a 2.5L engine, automatic and AWD, but still... 25 imperial mpg?!
It's not really fair to compare a Subaru to a BMW or Merc though, is it? Those German luxury cars are much more expensive and the AWD variants are even more expensive still. A 5-series with AWD will cost 70%-80% more than a roughly equivalent Legacy. They are very different carsm with totally different customers in mind.
I have a 2000 Forester currently. Mechanically they are well-made cars, they have a strong AWD system and I like the ride quality over rough roads, which they handle much better than the Audis I've driven.
Their biggest weaknesses are only average fuel economy (by US standards; I get about 28 mpg combined), and average interior quality, especially in the Impreza and Foresters, though I have seen the latest models and they are much better. The 2.5L four is really a great engine in a lot of ways, but it's just not quite fuel efficient enough, and in my car that problem is exacerbated by the short-ratio gearbox, which is crying for a 6th gear.
Hybrids actually have an equal to worse carbon footprint than regular gasoline engine cars due to the production and disposal process of the batteries. As such, they are not green at all. They are just another one of these ****** feel good deals for hippies with no brains an engineering knowledge.
I disagree. Real hippies don't work and thus can't afford fancy hybrids.
Of the commercially available cars, a well designed diesel, able to operate on biodiesel from waste oil for example has by far the best carbon footprint or an ethanol burner that can work on ethanol fermented from plant waste via cellulose digesting bacteria.
I would prefer if we could get to the point where we either have cars running on ethanol generated from cellulose or keratin digestion or natural gas buring engines.
Unfortunately fuel cells are not that great either because of the palladium used in the batteries that is pretty toxic in production as well.
Cheers,
Ahmed
The problem with biodiesel is that it's far too scarce to adopt widely. Sure, it's great that Joe Hippie can run his 1979 Mercedes 300D wagon on fast food grease, but once everyone starts looking into biodiesel Joe Hippie won't be getting free oil handouts anymore.
Also, biodiesel demand has already started competing with food production and I can tell you right away I'd rather eat than drive.
You're right about fuel cell carbon footprints - but that's the least of their worries now because they still cost a fortune to make and have short useful lives, making them totally unpractical to sell.
So far the biggest problem is not getting internal combustion engines to burn alternative fuels (we've found many alternative fuels) but to produce enough alternative fuel and distribute it widely enough to replace petroleum - without interrupting things like food production or power generation.
I agree with you that series hybrids gain efficiency by running the internal combustion engine at a narrow RPM range representing the engine's most efficient speed. It's been done for over a hundred years that way in generators and a series hybrid drivetrain is set up exactly the same way as a generator.
Power plants are usually more efficent per unit of energy than autos, but right now they do not have the capacity to support a big switch to electrics. Also, the notion that power plants are cleaner than cars is debatable - many are, but many are not all that clean.
The critical point is, our power grid needs to become FAR more robust (more, bigger power plants) before we can make a large-scale switch to electrics - and it will only be worthwhile if the power grid becomes significantly more efficient. It can be done, but it will take a long, long time - and probably have to involve a significant new construction program of nuclear power plants.
I heard it that the reason why BMW stopped selling diesel cars in the US was that the engines failed, due to the very poor quality. In Europe, you can get quality fuel, but in the US, diesel is still the fuel of trucks, primarily.
Just one statistics: in continental Europe (not in the UK), new diesel cars have been outselling petrol ones for almost a decade, despite the premium.
The US began transitioning to ultra-low sulphur diesel in and by now the transition is nearly complete. The new fuel standard brings us in line with European diesel. Before the credit crunch recession hit, many car manufacturers were planning to bring Eurpoean-market diesel cars over here in slightly modified form, but those plans were scuppered in the recession. Subaru, for example, has delayed the introduction of their diesel by a year or two.
But I think diesels will start arriving here in the next couple years, and people will buy them in increasing numbers. The USA is 40 years behind in the adoption of diesel passenger cars.
You shouldn't have any impression about Subarus. They really have the traction of a train (AWD ones, of course - why would you buy anything else?!), but everything else is just midrange quality at best.
I've had a 1998 Impreza estate several years ago and it was OK. Recently, I've had a 2007 Legacy Outback from work. Nice glass on the top and good traction, but I have no intention of trading a BMW or Mercedes for it the next time. The interior is low quality and Subaru has no understanding of fuel efficiency, it seems. OK, it's a 2.5L engine, automatic and AWD, but still... 25 imperial mpg?!
It's not really fair to compare a Subaru to a BMW or Merc though, is it? Those German luxury cars are much more expensive and the AWD variants are even more expensive still. A 5-series with AWD will cost 70%-80% more than a roughly equivalent Legacy. They are very different carsm with totally different customers in mind.
I have a 2000 Forester currently. Mechanically they are well-made cars, they have a strong AWD system and I like the ride quality over rough roads, which they handle much better than the Audis I've driven.
Their biggest weaknesses are only average fuel economy (by US standards; I get about 28 mpg combined), and average interior quality, especially in the Impreza and Foresters, though I have seen the latest models and they are much better. The 2.5L four is really a great engine in a lot of ways, but it's just not quite fuel efficient enough, and in my car that problem is exacerbated by the short-ratio gearbox, which is crying for a 6th gear.
Hybrids actually have an equal to worse carbon footprint than regular gasoline engine cars due to the production and disposal process of the batteries. As such, they are not green at all. They are just another one of these ****** feel good deals for hippies with no brains an engineering knowledge.
I disagree. Real hippies don't work and thus can't afford fancy hybrids.
Of the commercially available cars, a well designed diesel, able to operate on biodiesel from waste oil for example has by far the best carbon footprint or an ethanol burner that can work on ethanol fermented from plant waste via cellulose digesting bacteria.
I would prefer if we could get to the point where we either have cars running on ethanol generated from cellulose or keratin digestion or natural gas buring engines.
Unfortunately fuel cells are not that great either because of the palladium used in the batteries that is pretty toxic in production as well.
Cheers,
Ahmed
The problem with biodiesel is that it's far too scarce to adopt widely. Sure, it's great that Joe Hippie can run his 1979 Mercedes 300D wagon on fast food grease, but once everyone starts looking into biodiesel Joe Hippie won't be getting free oil handouts anymore.
Also, biodiesel demand has already started competing with food production and I can tell you right away I'd rather eat than drive.
You're right about fuel cell carbon footprints - but that's the least of their worries now because they still cost a fortune to make and have short useful lives, making them totally unpractical to sell.
So far the biggest problem is not getting internal combustion engines to burn alternative fuels (we've found many alternative fuels) but to produce enough alternative fuel and distribute it widely enough to replace petroleum - without interrupting things like food production or power generation.
killuminati
Sep 7, 10:39 PM
I can never have any respect or even try to understand for any one to say "******* the police thats how we treat 'em" Now, is that not bad boy enough.
It's a bit deeper then that though, he says
******* the police that's how we treat 'em
we buy our way out of jail, but we can't buy freedom
He's not just saying F the police just because they're the police.
It's a bit deeper then that though, he says
******* the police that's how we treat 'em
we buy our way out of jail, but we can't buy freedom
He's not just saying F the police just because they're the police.
caspersoong
May 3, 05:50 AM
I think I will just ignore this... And block it in my hosts file.
more...
solvs
Jan 10, 11:45 PM
All of this to gain what?:(
Attention. Or to make a lame joke that went way too far. I would be more shocked if they weren't banned from CES, and probably others. I doubt they'll get banned from Macworld this late in the game, especially after having come clean instead of someone else finding out and outing them, but they'll probably be watched more. Anything goes wrong, they'll be the first to be blamed, even if it's just a copycat. I wouldn't be surprised to find those affected not wanting to advertise anytime soon either, nor sending them products for awhile. Free advertising or not. Businesses aren't really known to have senses of humors about such things. A prank is a prank, but this is big business here and they're supposed to be professionals. There goes any credibility they had left.
They may not get any punishment for it, but if they want to make sure something similar (or worse) doesn't happen again, I'm sure they'll be more careful, but I'm also thinking those affected might want to make an example of the pranksters and the site.
Attention. Or to make a lame joke that went way too far. I would be more shocked if they weren't banned from CES, and probably others. I doubt they'll get banned from Macworld this late in the game, especially after having come clean instead of someone else finding out and outing them, but they'll probably be watched more. Anything goes wrong, they'll be the first to be blamed, even if it's just a copycat. I wouldn't be surprised to find those affected not wanting to advertise anytime soon either, nor sending them products for awhile. Free advertising or not. Businesses aren't really known to have senses of humors about such things. A prank is a prank, but this is big business here and they're supposed to be professionals. There goes any credibility they had left.
They may not get any punishment for it, but if they want to make sure something similar (or worse) doesn't happen again, I'm sure they'll be more careful, but I'm also thinking those affected might want to make an example of the pranksters and the site.
SilentPanda
Apr 21, 11:53 AM
You were asking for that.
It's a test of a feature. I do agree that you should be able to revert to a no vote. Mostly I was explaining that you really aren't moving the post vote by 2.
It's a test of a feature. I do agree that you should be able to revert to a no vote. Mostly I was explaining that you really aren't moving the post vote by 2.
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interlaced
Nov 24, 11:31 PM
some kid in front of me in line brought in his old ipod for the ipod exchange program and got an additional discount on today's price. the 30gb ipod he got ended up being a little over $200. :rolleyes:
sushi
Oct 1, 07:31 PM
Basement. Follow the Gizmodo links and you'll find the rather uninteresting floorplan thereof.
I see. Thanks. :)
I see. Thanks. :)
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Willis
Jan 8, 01:04 PM
well, its currently 'exporting' it... taking a while though.
lordonuthin
Jul 11, 12:15 PM
well after moving, i finally have my computers setup again. i just got internet access today, but it is looking terribly slow. i just started folding with 4 GPUs for right now. i'll see how this goes before i start with the big units
Good to have you back folding again. We need the points...
Good to have you back folding again. We need the points...
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vincenz
Apr 15, 05:18 PM
How is "gay history" different than regular history? lol
One has "gay" and the other doesn't? :p
One has "gay" and the other doesn't? :p
VenusianSky
Oct 6, 12:47 PM
Before you pick a phone, pick a network.
This was the funniest part of the fine print. Too bad for Verizon that the customers they lost to AT&T didn't pick the network over the phone. Instead of fine print, they should make that their slogan. Too bad it won't matter. iPhone trumps call quality.
This was the funniest part of the fine print. Too bad for Verizon that the customers they lost to AT&T didn't pick the network over the phone. Instead of fine print, they should make that their slogan. Too bad it won't matter. iPhone trumps call quality.
more...
liketom
Sep 12, 07:21 AM
can we confim the what countrys itunes stores are down ?
usa/uk ...
usa/uk ...
l3lack J4ck
Nov 25, 01:51 AM
i know this isnt about the black friday news but...does apple honor tax free businesses? my dad owns a tax free business so if i brought him w/ me and he had a paper htat signified he was tax free...would i get the educational and tax free?
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tremendous
Oct 8, 08:28 AM
i say ban them from life
nothin' but the chair for these practical jokers.
nothin' but the chair for these practical jokers.
QuarterSwede
Apr 25, 12:21 PM
Fake. Display looks like paper / printed.
It looks like a retina display to me. People often thought the display was paper on first glance on the demo units after the iPhone 4 announcement.
Doesn't the status bar look taller? I remember a thread on here talking about how they overheard engineers discussing iOS 5 and that was one of the things that would be different. It was going to allow for an SBSettings type of thing and maybe a place for notifications to scroll? Anyways, cool. But I think this is fake.
It looks about the same as my iPhone 4's status bar.
It looks like a retina display to me. People often thought the display was paper on first glance on the demo units after the iPhone 4 announcement.
Doesn't the status bar look taller? I remember a thread on here talking about how they overheard engineers discussing iOS 5 and that was one of the things that would be different. It was going to allow for an SBSettings type of thing and maybe a place for notifications to scroll? Anyways, cool. But I think this is fake.
It looks about the same as my iPhone 4's status bar.
more...
MattSepeta
Apr 27, 01:41 PM
I appreciate that, I still disagree.
The medical and legal community still is not on your side
My birth certificate, my medical notes, and all my documentation is noted down as female, in medical terms I'm classed as a transsexual female, that's how we're referred to in scientific papers and similarly that's how I'm classified legally, bar the transsexual part as it has no legal significance.
There are many kinds of female/male, as I pointed out, your oversimplified view is simply not applicable to the reality we live in. Everyone has female/male aspects, picking the ones you think "count" is as I've said a few times, naive.
Ok, I'll agree with you on all counts. Still not sure where the argument is?
Never did I say that no one should "count" as you have mysteriously attributed to me...
The medical and legal community still is not on your side
My birth certificate, my medical notes, and all my documentation is noted down as female, in medical terms I'm classed as a transsexual female, that's how we're referred to in scientific papers and similarly that's how I'm classified legally, bar the transsexual part as it has no legal significance.
There are many kinds of female/male, as I pointed out, your oversimplified view is simply not applicable to the reality we live in. Everyone has female/male aspects, picking the ones you think "count" is as I've said a few times, naive.
Ok, I'll agree with you on all counts. Still not sure where the argument is?
Never did I say that no one should "count" as you have mysteriously attributed to me...
iansilv
Apr 15, 01:38 PM
If this is real I am stoked!
Andrew K.
May 4, 08:14 AM
I really like the tone of these commercials.
Also, I enjoy that they keep saying magic or magical; only because I know how angry people (trolls, mostly) here get about it.
I think Apple is trolling back lolz
Also, I enjoy that they keep saying magic or magical; only because I know how angry people (trolls, mostly) here get about it.
I think Apple is trolling back lolz
aricher
Oct 3, 12:20 PM
Just 97 days to go. :)
bruinsrme
Oct 6, 11:35 AM
It was a good message until they stated "Before you pick a phone, pick a network." That would be valid in an iPhone-less world. They would still be selling us phones based on a spinning CGI rendering of a phone's outer shell. "Look! A plastic candy bar! You like candy, don't you? Then you'll love our rectangular phone! Brand new features like rounded edges and three colors!"
Apple changed the game. The device should now be the focus. The service should be an afterthought in the background.
Why would anyone by something as expensive as an iPhone if the coverage is not as good As another carrier or existan at all? Yeah I want to pay $90 a month for a phone that doesn't work well in the area I spent most of my time in.
Apple changed the game. The device should now be the focus. The service should be an afterthought in the background.
Why would anyone by something as expensive as an iPhone if the coverage is not as good As another carrier or existan at all? Yeah I want to pay $90 a month for a phone that doesn't work well in the area I spent most of my time in.
polzii
May 3, 11:37 PM
Ordered one from macmall for a friend on April 19th. Got it on April 28th. No tax and shipping was 9 bucks. Dunno why folks keep going to the b&m stores
ImageWrangler
Oct 6, 12:54 PM
AT&T is evil, let's get that out of the way, so if the iPhone came to a different network I'd be all over that like, well, like a person that thinks AT&T is evil and hates sleeping with the devil.
That said, some of the peeps defending Verizon also beg a chuckle. Evil? No, not that I'm aware of. But super stellar league of awesome as many are implying? Uhhh, no, definitely not.
My sig other has Verizon with a (semi)smart phone, and I have AT&T with the iPhone. At home she can only make calls from the kitchen as her signal goes in and out, I get five bars of 3G anywhere in the house, in the basement, the barn, the garage. We leave the house and travel west she goes to analog then no service, I'm fine however. There is a bizarrre dead zone near where we live where I do go to EDGE for a bit, but otherwise fine. NYC where I'm from, in the city, full bars, but yes, dropped calls, but my friends there regardless of network complain about it. Think about it, big steel buildings in concrete canyons where you can't make sight-line with any cell array, many of which are tacked on buildings (ugly as that is), c'mon, get serious. And her Verizon drops calls in NYC same rate I do only I get a stronger signal.
So half of this "Verizon is teh godz herherher" is kinda overblown here. Decent I'm sure, sup0r awesome as some are saying? Uh, no, not hardly.
That said I'd welcome the option even though, sadly, with Verizon's spotty coverage all over upstate New York probably sadly would have to stay with AT&T until VERIZON got better service.
That said, some of the peeps defending Verizon also beg a chuckle. Evil? No, not that I'm aware of. But super stellar league of awesome as many are implying? Uhhh, no, definitely not.
My sig other has Verizon with a (semi)smart phone, and I have AT&T with the iPhone. At home she can only make calls from the kitchen as her signal goes in and out, I get five bars of 3G anywhere in the house, in the basement, the barn, the garage. We leave the house and travel west she goes to analog then no service, I'm fine however. There is a bizarrre dead zone near where we live where I do go to EDGE for a bit, but otherwise fine. NYC where I'm from, in the city, full bars, but yes, dropped calls, but my friends there regardless of network complain about it. Think about it, big steel buildings in concrete canyons where you can't make sight-line with any cell array, many of which are tacked on buildings (ugly as that is), c'mon, get serious. And her Verizon drops calls in NYC same rate I do only I get a stronger signal.
So half of this "Verizon is teh godz herherher" is kinda overblown here. Decent I'm sure, sup0r awesome as some are saying? Uh, no, not hardly.
That said I'd welcome the option even though, sadly, with Verizon's spotty coverage all over upstate New York probably sadly would have to stay with AT&T until VERIZON got better service.
techfreak85
Apr 21, 09:35 PM
I don't see the ability to vote down posts ending well. I think that a "Thanks" system would be much, much better.
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